Language Development
004797495
12/2/2010
California State University, Chico
Melissa J. Norton
Melissa Norton
004797495
Language Development
Language is the principal mode of human communication and made up of
several components (Schwartz, Fall 2010, PSYC 353). It allows individuals to translate
mental activities into conscious thoughts and memories. It also allows us to express our
needs and to transfer what we know about the world to subsequent generations. For
the purposes of this paper, three children were observed using language in varying
settings; the first child was male and 17 months of age. The second child observed was
male and 34 months of age and the third child observed was a female aged 74 months.
It was evident from these observations which element of language each child
was utilizing relative to early language development. Dylan, 17 months, was observed
after arriving at daycare in the morning. During my observation of Dylan, he
demonstrated basic phonological awareness through his use of words like “no” and
“shhh.” Phonology refers to the sounds of a language; babbling can be these sounds,
however, babbling contains only a small subset of all the sounds found in human
language (Locke, 1983; Oller, 1980; Bjorkland, 2005).
Bjorkland also told us that the vocabulary of 18-24 month olds consists of only a
few dozen words (2005). The words known by children aged 18-24 months are words
which are important to them and can illustrate things like what happened, what belongs
to whom, names of familiar people and objects and where familiar people and objects
are located. Words stating nonexistence such as “all gone” and words depicting
requests like “more” and “again” are also used by children in this stage (Bjorkland,
2005). When a friend approached the doll in his arms, Dylan screamed, “ahhh,” until his
Melissa Norton
004797495
teacher gave him the words, “my baby,” to tell his friend about his current possession of
the babydoll.
Nathaniel, 34 months, was observed after arriving at daycare in the morning.
Nathaniel demonstrated knowledge of syntax when he expressed himself using a
negative, saying, “No shark eat me.” Syntax is the grammatical knowledge of rules for
how words are combined into sentences and how sentences can be transformed to
reflect an active or passive voice (Bjorkland, 2005). More sophisticated examples of
negatives like, “I don’t want to do it” are associated with longer sentences in more
developed children (Bjorkland, 2005).
The learning of syntax has been proposed to be innate due to the fact that during
the first five years of life, most children become experts in their native language
(Chomsky, 1957; Bjorkland, 2005). A mental organ or language acquisition device was
used by Chomsky to explain the innateness of language. More current theorists of
language development state that in addition to possessing this ‘mental organ’ for
language acquisition, children also have primitive knowledge at birth about the syntax of
language; this is known as universal grammar (Bjorkland, 2005). Universal grammar
encompasses the set of principles and parameters which guide human’s interpretation
of language (Bjorkland, 2005). Having universal grammar allows children to incorporate
new language with the inborn so that their theory of syntax will align with the theory that
those people around them use.
Nathaniel also displayed egocentricity in his communicating and language during
the observation. He asked, “See my jammies?” when I said, “Good morning,” and used
Melissa Norton
004797495
the statement, “I two,” after his sister had asked me how old I was. Piaget called these
kinds of conversations collective monologues, meaning that Nathaniel and I were talking
“with” each other, but not necessarily “to” each other (1955; Bjorkland, 2005).
Maddli, 74 months, was observed arriving home after a day at school and
afterschool program. During my observation, it was clear that Maddli was
demonstrating knowledge of morphology. Morphological development in language is
the structure of words (Bjorkland, 2005). A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in
a language; morphemes can be free or bound. Most of the morphemes children learn
are word endings like –ing, –ed and adding s to form a plural from a noun. When
children have learned these rules for certain words, they may then apply them to all
words, even when it is not correct to do so. An example of this would be when Maddli
said, “he selled a nead.” This phenomenon is called overregularization and is found in
children learning to speak a variety of languages around the world (Slobin, 1970;
Bjorkland, 2005).
The average number of morphemes a child uses in a sentence or the MLU is a
good measure of how far a child has developed linguistically (Bjorkland, 2005). From
the language sample, a table showing Maddli’s MLU was derived. On average, Maddli
used 7 morphemes per sentence. It was also apparent that Maddli recognized how
language could be adjusted to fit different circumstances in different contexts. This
knowledge is referred to as pragmatics. Conversational guidelines fall under the
umbrella of pragmatics, such as knowing that messages must contain the right amount
of information, be relevant and be truthful (Bjorkland, 2005).
Melissa Norton
004797495
Children far surpass adults in ability to acquire both first and second languages,
however, they must be exposed to language early in life in order to be able to become
experts (Bjorkland, 2005). Theories like that of Chomsky’s LAD and universal grammar
support this idea of a critical period for language development. An enriched
environment, like that of school and quality daycare programs, paired with
knowledgeable adults who use proper behavioral and guidance techniques will ensure
children achieve their utmost potential in learning their native language, as well as
second and third languages.
Melissa Norton
004797495
References
Pages 1-3
Raw Notes
Pages 4-5
Language Samples
Page 6
Table 1 MLU for 74-month-old
Page 7
Class Notes 11/2/2010
Works Cited
Bjorkland, D.F. (2005). Children’s Thinking: Developmental Function and Differences.
(4th ed.) Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Schwartz, N. H. (Fall 2010). PSYC 353: Learning in the Young Child. California State
University, Chico.